The floats would weight too much, but the flying boat concept would work for firefighting. I don't think the military or Coast Guard has any desire to field another flying boat or amphibian.
They did test an air-cushion landing system (long time ago) that conceivably would allow landing on water and then taxi on land (e.g. a beach). see link for pics of a Buffalo being tested with the air cushion. http://www.combatreform.org/c130.htm
I could see this maybe 50 years ago but I don't see any way it would ever happen these days. The P-3 (herk engines upside down) is gone so you don't have that to pull from off the shelf. I'm sure the Coast Guard would have good use for such a plane but the bills to keep it running would be a lot higher than a regular Herk.
Very cool! As a former Herk driver (flew them for about 4 years) it never ceases to amaze me just how versatile the airframe is. So many interesting variants of the 130 exist. It will always hold a special place with me...
